Nigeria is weighing punitive diplomatic and economic measures against South Africa over a renewed surge of xenophobic attacks on its citizens, with Abuja warning that “nothing is off the table.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, speaking after a briefing with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, said the government is alarmed by what it sees as a weak and equivocal response from Pretoria as Nigerians are targeted in several South African cities.

According to her, Nigerian passport holders engaged in legitimate business have seen their shops looted and set ablaze, while their children face intimidation in schools. She alleged that South African police officers often stand by as mobs attack black foreign nationals.

“Our citizens are being harassed. Their properties are being looted and destroyed. Criminal actions are being perpetrated, and the police refuse to do anything. The South African government has not come out strongly and firmly enough to condemn these incidents,” she said, dismissing claims that most of the victims are undocumented migrants.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu framed the crisis against the backdrop of Nigeria’s role in the anti-apartheid struggle, recalling financial support, scholarships and mass protests by Nigerians in solidarity with South Africans. That history, she argued, makes the current hostility “especially painful and unacceptable.”

She stressed that the attacks are racially skewed. “They are not asking other migrants to leave. They are only asking black migrants to leave,” she said.

Pressed on whether Abuja would retaliate by targeting South African commercial interests and nationals in Nigeria, the minister confirmed that a review of existing privileges is under active consideration and awaits a final decision by the president.

The National Assembly has already urged the executive to suspend new business permits for South African companies, while the Senate has resolved to dispatch a high-level delegation led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio to register Nigeria’s displeasure in Pretoria.

In parallel, Nigeria has launched a large-scale voluntary evacuation. President Tinubu approved five Air Peace flights and ordered a crisis response unit at the consulate in Johannesburg and the high commission in Pretoria. More than a thousand Nigerians have registered to return, with hundreds already cleared for airlift.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the operation, coordinated with the National Emergency Management Agency and other agencies, will include rehabilitation support for returnees. She told her South African counterpart that Abuja “cannot stand by and watch the systematic harassment and humiliation” of its nationals and will prioritise their safety over diplomatic niceties.